True Loyalty
by Azulas Fan
Summary: Alternative Universe. Ozai plays host to a child with undying loyalty. But will he turn out to be more than a mindless servant? This may turn out to be Ozai's only regret. Rating may change as necessary.
1. Permanent Guest

**A/N: This is my first story. I appreciate constructive criticism. I have read quite a few of these so I get the gist. Well here it is, my take on an Avatar: the last Air bender AU.**

He had finally done it. His father was dead and the throne was his at last. Nobody could stop him now, with the comet returning after almost one hundred years he could finally finish the dream his grandfather had started. First he needed to clean up some loose ends his father had been incapable of handling. Or perhaps he had left them there to test his successor. It didn't matter though. Right now he had to take care of his biggest issue, one of the Fire Nations highest nobles was a traitor. His first act as Firelord, Ozai would make it a point that treachery would be dealt with swiftly and justly.

A man in his late forties perhaps, his wife and two young children no older than ten, were brought to him in shackles by armed guards in the dead of night. They were all still wearing their decadent robes after being roused from sleep. The father, a high ranking nobleman, was the first to speak. "Ozai, what is the meaning of this!" The expression on his face grew cold. He knew that disrespecting Ozai, now Firelord, was probably a death sentence for his whole family. "Qin, you very well know the meaning of this meeting. Or perhaps you think I am stupid enough to believe that you had no idea what was going on with your own funds." Ozai replied, a malicious glow on his expressionless face. "My lord" Qin replied "I can explain" he stuttered "You see..." "The fact that you can explain only proves your treachery more!" Ozai was furious. No, furious does not even begin to describe this feeling. "Take them back to their cells. They are to be publicly executed tomorrow, the world will learn to fear to fear me." The weight of these words was disrupted by the emotionless tone of the smallest child who, until now, had been completely silent.

"Firelord Ozai, I request a private audience with you." The child coolly announced. The entire room was dead silent. Qin sat there eyeing his youngest son with the oddest expressions flashing across his face. "Very well child." Ozai gestured to have the rest of the terrified family from the throne room, glowing only by the light of the magnificent flames that usually cloaked the shadowed form of the Firelord.

After it was clear that the rest of the family was gone, the child spoke, ever so calmly, as if speaking to a close friend and not the head of his country. "My name is Kai, I am the youngest son of former admiral Qin." Ozai was impressed, the child knew standard protocol for identifying oneself to the royal family, perhaps Qin had enough civility towards the Fire Nation to teach his children this much. "I have and always will be loyal to the Fire Nation and the Firelord, I had no involvement in my families treachery to the crown and I am willing to prove it to you tonight. Anything you want done will be done to prove my loyalty." Ozai was very impressed and was going to see just how far this child would go to prove his loyalty. "Very well young Kai." Ozai was smirking at the idea of the task he was about to impose on this child. Calmly he reached into his robe and drew the dagger. It was small, perhaps only five or six inches in length. Handing it to the child he simply told him "This dagger is yours for the night, do with it what you will and perhaps when you return it your life will be spared." The child took it without a moments hesitation and, looking the Firelord directly in the eyes, gave a nod. It was a small nod, it could easily have been missed but it wasnt and the messsage it gave was clear. Ozai knew when that child returned, he would spare his life. For he was about to declare his true loyalty to the Fire Nation.

It was several hours later that the hooded figure emerged from the shadows of the hallway. As he neared the throne Ozai could smell the bitter sting of fresh spilled blood. As the light flicker of the flames danced onto the face of the guest. They were not alone, the shape of a young girl, perhaps eight or nine was also there. Dressed in her pajamas and washed over with the look of tiredness. She had been awoken by a young servant who told her that he father wanted to see her. As the hooded figure emerged, the dagger held tightly in his blood soaked hand, he spoke only several words. "Thy will be done." Ozai, a bit surprised to see the figure back so soon, greeted him as a member of the royal family. He had earned the right and would now be staying in the palace, in the room directly across from Princess Azulas. The young girl now eyeing him a bit coldy, he had been greeted by a servant who took him to get washed up and into bed before a long day training with the now Fire Nation Princess.

Neither of the two young children really knew why Kai was being allowed to stay in the palace and live amongst royalty, but neither dared to question the Firelords decision. Kai didnt mind it, it really wasn't that different from the life he had previoulsy known. Servants to dress and tie up his hair, chefs to prepare whatever food he desired and fire bending training politics and history classes. He was given a private tutor for said subjects with Azula. In fact, they spent most of their day together. He had found himself being friends with her friends Mai and Ty Lee. He liked Azula the best though. She was always in step with him. They were equals no matter what they did. Even in fire bending, which Azula prided herself in being the best at, was a stale mate. She found it more interesting than always training by herself. Mai was his second choice. She rarely spoke and when she did it was always something worth saying. Ty Lee was his second least favorite. She was always jumping around and hugging and kissing him. She was always weird like that. It didnt matter who you were, Ty Lee could find a reason to hug you. And then there was Zuko. The Eldest son of the Firelord. He was a poor bender, he lacked any real skill other than his compassion, which was viewed as a weakness in the eyes of the Firelord.

The years passed rather uneventfully, other than Ozai calling on Kai's inablility to feel regret for killing people. Whenever someone was deemed a traitor the Firelord called upon Kai and tasked him with the job of putting an end to them. It was amazing really. He could kill any one he wanted and never have the slightest hesitation in doing so.

By the age of twelve, Kai had been sent on more than enough "errands" and was becoming quite skilled at bending. One of his greatest moments was spent with the Princess.

It was late. The sun would be rising in a matter of hours and the bustling Capitol city would awake with it. The Princess was asleep in her chamber when the door began to creep open so as not to make a sound. He snuck in very quietly under the cover of night. As he approached her he reconsidered. She was a very powerful bender and waking her in the middle of the night dressed in all black was a very bad idea but the anticipation was killing him. He reached over very slowly and tapped her shoulder with this wrist. She was at his throat before he could even breath. "Who are you and why were you trying to snap my neck!" He can barely breath with her hand crushing his wind pipe. Very roughly he responds. "Azula. Its Kai." She drops him very weerily as he pulls off his mask revealing the ever emotionless face that is Kai's. "What were you thinking. Sneaking in here at night dressed in all black. I was going to kill you!"


	2. A True Prodigy

**A/N: Reviews are welcome. I am open to ideas for new chapters or even new stories. I hope not to take to long to put up new chapters but with school, you know, that old tune. Well here it is chapter 2.**

Kai new it wouldn't take much convincing to get Azula to come with him. It combined the two things she loved most in the world, sneaking and firebending. After their brief scuffle in her bed chambers, he explained to her what he had found. They were ancient scrolls depicting some very interesting firebending techniques and he had them now. Of course, they had to travel quite a ways by foot to avoid being seen with them. They would surely get in trouble for being out past curfew but they didnt care. They only had one thing on their minds and that was firebending.

After walking for almost an hour it seemed, they arrived at the perfect place. It was deep enough in the forest that they would not be seen and it was open enough not to burn the whole forest down by practicing. Kai opened the small bag and took out the scrolls. Five of them were wrapped tightly in scarlet ribbon. But two of them were sealed with an electric blue ribbon. He set those two aside for later. The first scroll he opened depicted a very unusual move. Using your mouth to firebend seemed ridiculous until now. After only four attempts between the two of them, Azula was the first to do it successfully. It took Kai only one more attempt after that.

The second and third scrolls were practically the same and very simple it seemed. Create a swirling vortex of flame by spinning your hands in a circle. However, when the two children attempted it they could only create a small vortex, perhaps only a foot wide. The drawing showed it being six or seven feet wide and ten or twelve feet long. It took many tries for either of them to even come close, but this time it was Kai who succeeded first. Azula followed very shortly afterward. They were both amazed at how closely there skills rivaled the others. The fourth scroll was something they had both seen before, fire daggers. One flame in each hand coming to a sharp point only inches from your clenched fists. Very useful for hand to hand close range combat. This was an easy one. They both successfully created the depiction on their very first attempts.

The fifth and final red ribbon scroll was incredible, to say the least. Until now they had been completely silent. Azula was the first to speak. "We should wait to do this one, it looks really powerful we could both get hurt." Kai knew that was a risk with this but he couldn't help himself. He had to try it. Azula understood and they both took their stance to begin.

The graceful and flowing movements of body and fire was astounding. This was the most advanced technique they had ever seen or done. The dancing dragon. These techniques were as old as firebending itself. And they were doing it without any practice or previous attempts. The warm glow of red and orange faded against the black background of the night sky. The only witness to the truly beautiful essence of these moves was the moon itself. Upon the last movement of the now heavily panting bodies was a double handed punch, landing both of the young firebenders faces only inches away. They had done it perfectly. For several long minutes it was silent.

They were ready. The final two scrolls lay neatly on the now damp ground. Kai moved to pick them up. Azula followed closely behind. As they reached the ancient scriptures Azula was the one to speak. "Which one should we read first?" Kai was silent. He hadn't thought about that. He bent over and picked up the one on the left. "We'll try this one first." He looked confident that he had picked the right one and she trusted him.

She trusted him.

She had never trusted anyone. Trust is for fools. She always used fear to get what she wanted. The only problem was that this man didn't fear her.

She pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind. Right now, she just wanted to learn the mystery of what these scrolls contained. "Well, aren't you going to open it or do I?" She was always sarcastic to him. It got things done a lot quicker. "Ok, here goes nothing."

It seemed they both held their breath for an eternity while the scroll was unwound.

There were no pictures. Only a simple sentence.

"True power stems from the absence of emotional attachments."

"Thats it?" Azula was mad. Kai was mad too. "We came all the way up here for something my crazy uncle could have told us?!"

"Im going to keep it. It could mean something if we ever figure out what it means." This seemed reasonable to Kai. "If it was important to the Fire Sages than it could be useful later on."

Quickly Azula grabbed the other scroll. "If this is another meaningless phrase..."

Azula stopped. Dead in her tracks. The look in her eyes was total awe. Kai quickly stepped over to see what the scroll was and he too stopped. There they stood for what seemed like hours. In reality it couldn't have been three minutes. Both of their eyes scanning and reading the scroll several times. If they could pull this off, they would be regarded as some of the strongest firebenders in history.

Lightning bending.

Kai was the first to attempt it. "I have to separate yin and yang and then recombine outside of my body." He closed his eyes. The task at hand demanded total focus. Following the depiction on the scroll he swung his arm around in a full circle. As his hand with his two out stretched fingers came close to completing the circle, several small flickers of lightning appeared jumping away from his hand. As he threw out his arm to shoot the lightning a loud boom over came the entire forest. He was thrown back threw the air as the space around his hand seemed to explode. It had taken less than five seconds to complete the full motion and land him back a considerable distance from where he was standing before.

"Kai!" Azula was scared. No she was terrified. As she reached his side he began to stand up. Other than the pain in his back from where he had hit the ground to the burn on his hand he was fine. Thank Agni.

"Let me try that again." This time he was even more focused than before so as not to repeat the incident of his first try. With a full circular swing his hand shot forward and from the ends of his now red scarred fingers, so did the lightning.

It was beautiful. It was also terrifying. The feeling coursing through his veins when the lightning was crashing through the black nighttime sky was exhilarating. It was also humbling. The great force of the element he now controlled proved quite satisfactory. After his successful endeavor, the Princess stood. She was going to get it on her first try. She had to.

And she did. Hers however, was smaller and less potent than Kai's. She didn't care. She now had a new element to add to her arsenal. Her father would be proud of her. Not that he wasn't already but she liked hearing it. She conjured two balls of flame in her hands and to her and Kai's surprise, they were a magnificent blue.

She clamped her hands shut and doused the flames. Never had she felt so powerful as she did today. Kai opened his hands and blue flames sprung forth into life. As of now they were both on top of the world. The sun was beginning to rise. The Firelord would be up soon and would be furious if he found the young Princess returning home in the early hours of the morning with a boy. Even if the boy was like family.

They snuck in through the window. The guards were easy enough to get by. It was a little unnerving actually. Any trained assassin could get in with no trouble at all if two children could. They found there way to their bed chambers and they decided to hide the scrolls in Azulas room. They began to dress for the day ahead. They would be tired but they could muster through their classes fairly easily now. Especially their firebending classes.

It was around eight that the servant arrived. The Firelord wanted to see him. Kai was shaking. Did the Firelord know? Had he sent spies to watch them? He couldn't imagine what was going to happen when he arrived in the firelords presence.

Azula was there already. By this time he was absolutely terrified. Of all the people in the world, Ozai was the only one he feared.

Kai bowed very low to the Firelord. Ozai grinned at him.

"Tell me Azula. This boy is a strong bender, a skilled fighter and forever loyal to the Fire Nation. Correct?"

Azula too was terrified, he could see it. "Yes Father."

"And you get along with him very well correct?"

"Yes Father."

"Very well than." Ozai was happy. About what though?

"You two were raised together and are equal in every way. Therefore, when you come of age, you will wed to each other."

Kai and Azula were absolutely speechless. They didn't love each other, did they?

"That is all, children, you are dismissed."

They couldn't get out that door quick enough.

Ozai sat there smiling smugly to himself. Of course he knew what they had done the night before. He had them watched constantly in case Azula and Zukos mother ever decided to try and take them back. Yes they were very powerful, even more powerful together. When they wed and had children, nobody would stand a chance. Ozai was going to see the end of this war, but his daughter held the key to the future of the royal family. And who better to marry her to than the most loyal citizen of the Fire Nation.

The two children stopped in the hallway. Neither of them spoke. What was there to say? They didn't want to talk about it right now anyway. They were tongue tied. The Firelord basically just married them off to each other already. Without another word, they both walked opposite ways down the scarlet red corridor. There would be plenty of time to talk about this later. Ozai had made sure of that.

**A/N: Well. The end of chapter two. Its slightly longer than the first. I promise I'll make them longer when the story gets good but for now I'm just sort of setting it up. Please Review! Let me know how I'm doing!**


	3. The Avatar Returns

**A/N: I'm sorry. I know I said I'd update once a week and it's been two weeks. I hope to remedy the situation now with chapter 3!**

**And Thank you to Cobalt Sunfire! My first review and it was a positive one!**

After the shocking news the Fire lord had given them, the two children spent four days out of each others company. It was from a messenger that Kai recieved the news. The Prince, Zuko, was to fight in an agni kai. Kai was expected to attend. He and Azula met in the corridor between their chambers. They left together in silence.

The prince was not a terrible firebender. He certainly wasn't as good as his sister or his future brother in law. Had he applied himself more, he could have been quite good. Either way, this was going to be an interesting match. It wasn't until the gong sounded did the attendees realize who Zuko would be fighting.

It was obvious from the prince's reaction that this was the first he learned of his opponents identity as well. Fear coarsed through his veins. That much was obvious. For the man on the other end of the court was none other than the Fire lord himself, Ozai. Zuko's father. The boy immediately dropped to his knee's and began begging for mercy and forgiveness.

"Fool. He should know father will only take offense to his actions. He should stand and fight like a warrior." The words sounded cold coming from Azula.

"You will learn respect and suffering will be your teacher." Ozai was nearing his son now. Furious at the coward kneeled before him.

All that could be heard was a blood curdling scream. It was obvious Zuko would not walk away without a scar.

"This will not be the end of his punishment." Kai knew the Fire lord had a less than perfect relationship with his eldest son and he would probably take the chance to disown his own flesh and blood.

And with that everybody departed in silence as the soon to be ex-prince lay sobbing on the floor and his father departing as the victor.

It took less than three days. The Fire lord was insulted by his sons decision to not fight and had decided that banishment should be the obvious punishment. To hunt the Avatar was a failed mission by many great men and it was an obvious attempt to permanently get rid of the prince. Ozai's brother Iroh had volunteered to go with the banished prince and a small crew aboard a small vessel that, surprisingly, Azula had acquired for her brother. At the age of thirteen Zuko would leave his nation behind to take on an impossible task.

Kai knew he would fail. If he would not fight his father than he stood no chance against the man that controlled all four elements. However, this did pose a new idea. No, a new purpose in life for the young Kai. The Avatar has been missing for over 100 years. Many men, including past Fire lords Sozin and Azulon had tried and failed to find him.

He began researching the Air Nomads. The Avatar would have been reborn into one of the four temples. Sozin had been successful in destroying an entire population of people with the Great Comet. At least, thats what most people believed. He had failed horribly at what he had been attempting to do. It was well documented in Sozin's personal memoirs that he had been trying to kill the Avatar. Which he had not. With the Great Comet returning in less than four years, the Avatar, if he was still alive, would resurface soon. Kai just had to wait.

He would train, of course. He had to master the power of lightning in time so he could easily deal with the Avatar. He vowed, no prisoners. In order for the Fire Nation to completely seize victory the Avatar had to die.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

He had been studying such topics since Zukos banishment, over three years ago. He had grown in more ways than one. He was a firebending master. Another trait he and Azula shared, blue fire. Lightning was one thing he had complete mastery over. He had studied the Avatar almost five generations back. He studied Roku the most though. It never ceased to amaze him that a being with so much power would not work with his home nation to rule the world. Perhaps he may have lived a little longer had he assisted Sozin. The walls of Ba Sing Se had yet to fall. When they did the war would be over.

It was around noon when he received the message. He was in the courtyard training. The Fire lord wanted to see him. Immediately. He quickly threw on his body armor and quickly made his way to the throne room. When he arrived, he was greeted by four guards by the entrance. There were usually none. After he entered they formed a fiery barrier, keeping the uninvited out. As he neared the throne he bowed as usual.

"Stand boy, we have received important information from Zhao." Ozai was irritated. Not his usual irritated. He seemed really mad about something.

Azula was already there, along with three of Ozai's top generals. Nobody else. Even the guards usually hidden behind the pillars were gone. Whatever was bugging Ozai was very important.

"Zhao has informed from his post in the far southern Earth kingdom that Zuko's ship docked with him and was heavily damaged." The Fire lord paused for quite some time, obviously calming himself. "He has informed me that the Avatar played a large part in it."

The Avatar. So, he was alive. Undoubtedly he must be ancient. Over a hundred years in age. He must have decided to come out of hiding to try and end this war. Why now, Kai was uncertain but Zhao was a loyal Commander. If he believed it was the Avatar, his word would be taken seriously.

"He has also informed me that he is an Air Nomad. However he is only a child."

"Impossible." General Poon was quick enough to discern this idea "The Avatar would have been born directly after Avatar Roku died. Sozin wiped out the Air Nomads one hundred years ago. Zhao must be mistaken."

"So you assume that the Avatar cannot put himself in a sort of hibernation state?" Azula looked to be very convinced that the Avatar had been found. "Even my idiot brother might be on to something."

"Perhaps. However unlikely." Ozai himself rarely smiled anymore. He truly found the idea of his son doing anything useful hilarious. "That is all Generals, you are dismissed. Remember, word of this news is not to get out to the public."

With a small bow all the Generals left the two teenagers and the Fire lord alone.

"... If Zuko does by chance bring the Avatar here what are we going to do with him father?" Azula was curious. She knew the answer already. It was obvious.

"He will die by my hand." Ozai was calmer than before but still tense. The Avatar was truly the only chance the world had of winning this war.

"So, he's back. He cannot be allowed to master the elements." This was the first time Kai had spoken. "He must follow the cycle, therefore he will go to the Northern Water Tribe to find a Waterbender. Then onto the Earth Kingdom and from there he must find a Fire bending master."

"Hmm. Yes, we must prevent this. I will find someone to lead a strike on the Water village. It will take time but if we can defeat them, all that will remain are the Earth Kingdom strongholds." Ozai looked to be deep in thought.

It was two months later that Kai dared approach the Fire lord with his request. It was late afternoon and the war meeting had just cleared. The Siege of the North would begin in less than a month and the final preparations and arrangements were being made. Admiral Zhao would lead the attack. The Avatar was also in the North. No doubt he had already begun learning waterbending. Perhaps he was a master already. Unlikely but possible. Now they had to stop his Earthbending progress. Or at least delay it until after the comet passed. Than there would be no world to save.

As he entered he bowed in respect to the Fire lord.

"Kai, what are you doing here?" Ozai was enjoying his tea. The only trait he shared with his fat brother.

"Firelord Ozai, no doubt that the Avatar has already begun his water bending training. He must be stopped from learning earth bending. I wish to travel on foot through the earth kingdom to follow him."

"Why would you do such a thing?" Ozai was slightly annoyed by the unexpected disturbance.

"As it is, the fate of the Fire Nations glorious conquest lies on the shoulders of the banished prince Zuko. This is unacceptable. The Avatar must be stopped if we are to win this war."

"Yes, this is true. Very well. You are to intercept the Avatar and kill him on sight. No prisoners. This is becoming a very pressing matter." Ozai seemed indifferent to the intentions of the fifteen year old in front of him.

And like that is was over. With a small bow to Ozai, the young firebender left. If he was to make it on time, he would have to board the ship today.

Of course this had all been planned out beforehand. There was absolutely no way that Zhao would be able to take the Northern Water Tribe with the Avatar present. You cannot fight such a power from a distance, it must be one on one for you to stand any chance of winning. The only obvious place for the Avatar to go after he defeated Zhao would be Omashu. The Earth Kingdoms second largest city. It would matter though, it was already under Fire Nation control. The Avatar would find not only a conquered city, but a very powerful firebender.

**A/N: Wow. 1700 words? Not bad. So, please review. I only have one and I really want to know what you think. Good or Bad. Let me have it.**

**Also, you may have noticed that this follows canon. Thats because its supposed to. I want this to follow the original story to an extent. So maybe if I feel up to it I will do another chapter this weekend...?**


	4. Unfortunate Omashu

**I've been inspired to write again, imagine that? I hope its not too far fetched of a story. Please review I _need_ feedback it keeps me going. The more reviews I get the faster I will update... just saying. This actually turned out pretty long. Cool.**

The young man now stood in a forest path, only a short distance from the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. He would be there by tomorrow if he kept going. It was getting dark already and he knew it would be much harder to travel by dark. He used restraint when firebending these days as he wished not to draw too much attention to himself. Its been almost a month since he left the Fire Nation, after the ship docked at the harbor, he left on foot. He now donned Earth Kingdom attire, however humiliating it was to be seen wearing such rags. He still remembered the night he left.

_It was the morning after he spoke with Ozai. The arrangements had been made and the only thing he had left to do was to tell Azula. That would be the hardest thing he had to do. But why? She was just his FRIEND. Nothing else. Why couldn't he believe that? Things have been so much harder after their betrothal. She still refused to speak of it. He couldn't blame her. They had been only friends and now they would one day be married. And they would have to consummate that marriage. The thought of taking his friend made him sick. Was this feeling sick or...? He was always confused since he realized that tid-bit of information. When he reached her bedroom door he stopped and stood there for a few minutes. He knocked, she came to the door and ushered him in._

_"Good morning Princess." This was it he thought._

_"Good morning Kai" She seemed a bit confused as to why he was here._

_"I have some news." He stopped and she seemed even more interested in him now. "I, have asked your father permission to pursue the Avatar."_

_She seemed hurt by this news. She quickly regained her composure._

_"Hmm. Why would you do that?" She still didn't sound exactly like herself._

_"Its my new purpose in life, Its what I will be remembered for sweetie." He winced at the last word. He hadn't used that word on purpose. She winced noticeably too. She didn't respond for a moment. When she did it was not what he expected. She walked over to him placed both of her hands on his shoulders and held him tight._

_"You do what you have to do, and I will do what I have to do." When she finished she looked him in the eyes with a look he's never seen before. It looked open and weak. She stood on her toes and moved her face only inches from his._

_"When do you leave?" Her tone was smooth and low, almost seductive._

_"The ship leaves in a couple of hours." The two teenagers foreheads were now touching. They could feel each others breath on their face._

_"I love you." The words left her mouth thought they were barely audible. He couldn't think straight after that. The two embraced for the first time ever and it felt right._

_"I love you too." They were still locked together. Seconds seemed like hours, and all he could think about was his lifelong friends smooth no, perfect lips pressed against his. It killed him to know that he would have to leave her in a couple of hours._

* * *

He had been walking for hours. The thought of seeing Azula again kept him going. The sooner he got back, the sooner he could see his princess again.

Omashu, the once great city now stood totally overrun. Even from the distance he was at, he was able to see the blood red flag of the Fire Nation. Even just knowing that this city had not even presented a fight angered him. This war would be over if the rest of the world was like this. Even as he thought his legs kept moving left right left right. New Ozai. All that remained was Ba Sing Se. What would that become? Great Ozai? He would worry about that later. He was already here, perhaps that was a secondary objective, to take Ba Sing Se to its knees. _  
_

A long metal walkway was all that seperated him from the city. As he neared the grand entrance he was confronted by two guards.

"Go away peasent, this city is restricted." The first guard approached him and he was dwarfed by the young man before him.

"I am Kai of the Fire Nation. I am traveling in disguise now let me enter." The Guards began laughing hysterically until the man Kai believed to be the commander came jogging out. He looked genuinely scared.

_"_Master Kai, please excuse their ignorance, welcome to our fair city the governor has asked you be brought directly to his home." The fat man was panting.

"Thank you sir, now please take me there before I throw one of these two off of this bridge." The two guards were now running to open the gates.

_Wonderful, my first ten minutes here and I can tell already this city wont last long if the Avatar arrives._

It did not take long to arrive at the palace. If that's what it could be called. The governor was the first to welcome him to the city. He was nervous, about something but he would not let on what.

"We shall speak over a nice dinner tonight." He paused "And I can inform you of the events that have happened recently.

"Please Governor, I could care less about this dirty earth city." Kai was annoyed that he had to deal with this cities problems now.

"You are wrong boy, you will want..." He couldn't finish before he was abruptly stopped when the young man lunged forward and grabbed the Governors neck with one hand.

"You should watch your insolence around me you washed up old man! I may not be royalty but that does not mean Ozai will be disappointed when I replace you with someone who has more respect for their superiors!" The young man was furious. He absolutely hated being told he was wrong. Especially as if he were a child. The last time someone had talked to him like this it ended with him being scolded by Ozai for burning the face of a servant. He was 11 then, and his temper had not waned.

"I apologize, sir. I meant no disrespect to you." The elderly man was quite shaken by what had just happened.

"I shall show mercy this time, governor, but do not let it happen again." The young man stormed off obviously furious and the governor was going to let him.

* * *

_When he received the message that the ship was ready to depart he was annoyed. He had just now become romantically involved with Azula, and he had to leave already. _

_"I hope this is over quickly..."_

_"So do I." The young princess seemed sad. Of course, he was sad too._

_"When I get back, I will take you somewhere very special and we can spend the rest of eternity together." Kai grabbed his princess tightly, why did he have to leave now?_

_On the deck of the ship he was wearing royal battle armor. It was true, Ozai treated him as his own. Well, not Zuko anyway. The air was warm, spring was abound in the Fire Nation. Too bad he would have to miss it. He knew the Earth Kingdom was cooler than here, but it didn't matter. The ships captain was now barking orders to the crew. They would be leaving soon. Kai glanced down at the harbor and noticed a familiar face._

_Ozai and Azula were there._

_Ozai seemed proud almost. His secret weapon was on it's way to secure Fire Nation victory._

_Azula seemed depressed. Her best friend. Her BOY friend was leaving the country._

_Kai gave only a stern emotionless look back to both of them as the ship began it five day long journey to the Earth Kingdom._

* * *

It was growing dark outside when the servant approached.

"The Governor asks for your attendance at his dinner." The servant bowed her head and proceeded to go back into the manor.

The young firebender slowly got up and followed the young woman to the dining hall. There he saw the governor and his wife with their young child, only an infant.

"I'm glad you decided to join us Sir Kai." The governor bowed his head in respect with a small smile.

"Yes, your presence is an honor." The woman now lowered her head and clasped her hands together. She was petite in figure and about as old as her husband.

"Thank you. I am grateful for you hospitality." Kai gave a small quick bow.

"Now, I believe we should cut to the chase and discuss what you were talking about early governor." The young man looked very impatient, as if he just wanted to get out of this city and continue his hunt.

"Very well. You see, you are behind schedule." The governor paused but not long enough for Kai to ask the question he wanted to. "You see, the Avatar has been here already. And two young women came to bring with them my eldest daughter to help them catch the banished prince Zuko and his uncle."

"What!?" Kai was furious. The Avatar had been here already! That meant the he had wasted a whole day in this putrid Earth city! He would have to walk all night for the next three day to catch them.

"This dinner is over! I want my bag brought to me immediately with a weeks worth of food! NOW!" The young man was growing even angrier thinking about the idiot governor stalling him for a whole day.

Then he remembered hearing something.

"You say they were looking for Zuko?" He looked incredibly menacing at this particular moment, probably mostly because of the bouts of flames spurting from his nostrils as he breathed.

"Yes, they were..." He was cutoff.

"Why are they hunting the Ex-prince?" His bags had been brought to him and he was now walking out the door as he paused and listened for an answer.

"Ozai has put a bounty on his head. Don't you want to know who the women are?"

It was too late though, he was gone. If he kept going and didn't stop but for a few minutes he could catch the Avatar in a matter of days. With any luck, he could catch the banished prince as a present for the Firelord. These women that the governor had spoken of did not matter to him, he could defeat whoever they were with undoubted ease. The next most logical place for the Avatar to go would be Gaoling. This time though there would be no meeting with the governor. He would tear the city apart until he found the Avatar or not, then he would move on. He only had a set amount of chances. If they entered Ba Sing Se, he would never find them. Or get to them for that matter. He could try and take over the city while he was here in the Earth Kingdom. So now he had three objectives.

1. Kill the Avatar

2. Capture Zuko

3. Conquer Ba Sing Se

Still, the glory he got would be a minimal part of his return. He really only wanted to get back to Azula.

**A/N: So here it is! Chapter four, I know it's kind of boring, or maybe not. I promise in the next chapter I will chop out a Fighting scene! I know right its about time. So, Please review, I dont care what it is, Send me a letter and a number. It doesnt matter, just as long as I know people are reading this. If I dont start getting some reviews, I may decide to cancel this story for lack of interest. Please dont make me do it. Until Next Time!**


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